AE 517 – Expression: Have Tickets on Yourself

What’s the only venomous animal on the planet that doesn’t make its own venom? Here’s a clue. It is three hearts pumping blood. It digests food through its brain, has a bird-like beak, deadly saliva, weighs only 25 grams, is jet-powered, is a night-dweller, can change colour, uses its body as a cape, has no bones, a tongue-like drill, is a contortionist, oh, and it has 8 arms.

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G’day you mob! How’s it going? Welcome to this episode of the Aussie English Podcast, the number one podcast for anyone and everyone wanting to learn Australian English so, guys, welcome to 2019! Happy new year, guys! I hope you guys had an amazing New Year’s Eve! Hope you celebrate it. I hope you didn’t get too drunk. I hope that you didn’t get into any trouble of any kind and I hope it was an amazing evening. So, for us, Kel and I went to my parents place this year and we started a bit early I guess about 6pm so, maybe not that early, but we were hanging out and to give you an idea of what New Year’s is like here, at least in Ocean Grove, in Victoria, in Australia, we were having, I guess, sort of like nibblies , snacks, you know, things to eat for the first hour or two where we had a few beers as well and some wine.

I think there was champagne and then we had dinner, which tends to be a barbecue of some kind. So, I think Dad went out on the deck, opened up the barbie, turned the gas on, started cooking some sausages and some pork, but I think he cooked in the oven. We had some salad, some veggies, some cheese some…what else did we have? Some chips and other things and then we got onto the harder kind of liquor where I think Dad got into the Scotch with his friends and Mum had some Gin with a few of the other friends that were there. But it was pretty tame, we just sort of hung out around a table chatting the whole night. There were fireworks at 10pm for the kids. They usually have the early fireworks on so, the kids can go to bed and then we had the fireworks on at 12, but I think Kel and I were a bit wrecked, we were pretty tight so, we ended up going home at about… I think it was eleven thirty at night and I may have even passed out before the fireworks went off for 12pm so, this was probably one of the more tame New Years that I’ve ever had. So, yeah, I hope you guys had an amazing New Year’s and I hope that 2019 ends up being a killer year for you, guys!

So, that scene at the very start of today’s episode, guys. That was a scene from a video on YouTube, from the YouTube channel The Nature of Science which is run by one of my favourite professors in Australia called Jamie Seymour so, he is an associate professor at James Cook University and his specialty, his interest. His venom and dangerous animals so, go and check out his YouTube channel and stay around until the end of this episode to find out more about what makes blue-ringed octopi or octopuses so interesting and I thought of mentioning blue-ringed octopi or octopuses this week because I had read a story of a man in WA, in Western Australia who’d been out at a beach with his kids and his kids had given him some shells. He put the shells in his pocket and then when he got back to shore he realised he could feel something moving in his pocket and it ended up being the deadly blue ring octopus and I think it was actually two of these that obviously had been a little shocked when their homes, the shells, had been picked up and put in some man’s pocket.

Anyway, that made it into the news, no one died, but it made me think of blue ring octopi and why they’re awesome. Anyway, guys, as usual remember this podcast is brought to you by the Aussie English Classroom, guys. That is the best place for you to go online to learn Australian English, English in general, but specifically Australian English, wherever you want whenever you want. Everything is online, there are 50+ courses in there, guys, designed to improve your pronunciation, expression usage, vocabulary, speaking abilities and much more. So, go to theaussieenglishclassroom.com and sign up.

If you just want the transcripts and the downloads for the podcast, however, you know, you’re just interested in reading and listening and being able to download all of that and get access to that, go to theaussieenglishpodcast.com and for the price of one coffee per month you will get unlimited access to all transcripts that are just on the podcast. Anyway, guys, as usual let’s dive into the Aussie Joke for the day, ok? Aussie Joke, and it’s a good one, it’s a good one. It’s a ripper.

What do you call an Aussie in the finals of the World Cup? Right? Soccer? What do you call an Aussie in the finals of the World Cup?

A referee. Get it? A referee.

Now the reason the joke’s answer is a referee is insinuating that the only way for an Australian to get into the World Cup, the soccer World Cup, is to be a referee because Australians aren’t known to be incredibly good at soccer. And so, there’s no way that our teams would ever get in, although sometimes we do.

Alright, so today’s expression is ‘to have tickets on yourself’. You might hear this as ‘to have got tickets on yourself’ and even ‘to sell tickets on yourself’. Now, this expression was suggested by Lima in the Aussie English classroom Facebook group. Great selection, Lima! This is a good one and it is very, very popular in Australia. However, it is less popular overseas. Let’s go through the definitions of the words in the expression or expressions ‘have tickets on yourself’, ‘have got tickets on yourself’ or ‘to sell tickets on yourself’, right?

So, ‘to have’. If you have something, you possess that thing, right? You own that thing.

‘To sell’. If you sell something, it is that you are giving something to someone for money, right? You are asking them to pay for that thing.

‘A ticket’. ‘A ticket’ is a pass that gives you entry or certain privileges somewhere or it could be a pass that signifies ownership or it could be for a prize or a large price tag.

And then when we say ‘on yourself’, that is a way of saying for yourself, right? It showing that you have those tickets and those tickets are related to yourself. They are on yourself.

So, let’s define the expression. If you’ve got tickets on yourself, if you have tickets on yourself, if you’re selling tickets on yourself, what do you think this could mean?

If someone has tickets on themselves, it means they are very conceited and very vain and other ways of thinking about this, other expressions we could use to describe these kinds of people, could be that you have an over-inflated opinion of yourself, that you are up yourself, that you have a high opinion of yourself or that you are stuck up and an interesting bit of slang here used in Australia quite a bit too, that you might hear from time to time is that you are a wanker, ok?

Now, that is very informal, it’s very informal language. I wouldn’t recommend using this just anywhere, any time, but you will hear this around the traps, you’ll hear this quite a lot around the place in Australia, ‘a wanker’ tends to be someone who is very conceited or vain, a loser, you know? An idiot, a bad person.

So, we can imagine that this expression originated thinking about someone who has tickets on themself meaning that they probably think that they have special privileges, right? Or are worth a high price or are prized in some way. So, you know, they have tickets on themself because they are such a prize, I don’t know, that’s about the only way I can think about this coming about an expression.

So, let’s go through three examples of how to use the expression to have tickets on yourself or to sell tickets on yourself.

So, example number one. Imagine you are a young lady and you’re going out clubbing, you know, you’re going out on the town, you want to party with the girls. Maybe you dress up in your finest frock, meaning your finest dress, you’re having a dance, having a drink and maybe you’re hoping that you catch the eye of your dream hunk, you know, a dream good looking man who is out and about that night too. So, you rock up to the club in an Uber or a taxi, you arrive at the club in an Uber or a taxi, you jump out and you have to get in a line with the rest of the people out the front. Eventually, you get inside, you walk up to the bar with your girlfriends, you buy a drink and straight away a guy approaches you and starts trying to chat you up, right? He starts trying to seduce you. So, he’s talking about himself, he’s talking about his job, how much money he makes, how expensive his car is and straight away you can tell how up himself he is, how much of a high opinion of himself he has. So, you turned your girlfriends in you might say ”man, this guy’s got tickets on himself! He’s selling tickets on himself! “, ”He has tickets on himself!”, He’s incredibly conceited and vain”, He has heaps of tickets on himself”, ”What a wanker!”.

Number two. You’re going out with the family on Lygon Street, in Melbourne and this is a street in the center of Melbourne, near the CBD, that is renowned for its Italian restaurants and ice cream stores among other things. So, it’s incredibly renowned for also having a number of rich men who drive down the street in expensive cars such as things like Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, Maseratis. So, you head out with the family, you find a good restaurant where you want to have some pizza, you get a table, it’s outside in the street, you order some pizza or a pasta with your family when a guy drives down the road slowly in his Ferrari and he’s revving the engine, you know, he’s trying to draw a lot of attention to himself. He wants everyone to notice him. He wants everyone to look at him as much as possible. You know, all the diners, all the pedestrians in the street take notice of me, and your wife leans over to you and says ”Man, this guy selling tickets on himself!”. ”What a loser! This guy’s got tickets on himself!”. ”What a conceited and vain guy who’s after attention!”. And if she’s an Australian woman and she’s wanting to be a little ruder, she might refer to the guy as ”a wanker”. This wanker’s selling tickets on himself. This wanker got tickets on himself.

Number three. You’re going to a family gathering and your least favorite cousin is coming along to the party. Everyone dislikes this guy because his favorite topic is himself. So, he is always talking about himself. He only ever wants to talk about what he’s doing, his achievements, his plans and it gets very tiresome, very boring, very quickly. He’s the youngest child in his family and so, maybe that’s the reason why, he didn’t get enough attention as he was growing up as a child and, as a result of that, he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder about it so, he has a bit of a complex and he’s constantly wanting to talk about himself. So, the moment he shows up and walks in the door, it begins. ”I’ve done so and so”, ”I’ve traveled to so and so”, I’ve got so and so promotion”, ”I’ve just bought so and so” blah blah blah blah blah, me me me me me. Your family all give each other a silent look and you can tell that everyone’s thinking ”man…. Our cousin has got tickets on himself!” ”He’s so up himself, he’s so stuck up!”, ”He has such an overinflated opinion of himself”, ”He’s got tickets on himself, he’s a massive wanker!”, if you want to be rude, remember, that’s to be rude.

So, hopefully by now guys you understand the expression ‘to have tickets on yourself’, ‘to have got tickets on yourself’ or ‘to sell tickets on yourself’. This expression is primarily heard and used in Australia and it means to be conceited or vain, to be up yourself, to be stuck up.

So, as usual let’s go through a listen and repeat exercise, guys, where you can practice your pronunciation, ok? So, if you are working on an Aussie accent, listen and repeat and try and copy my pronunciation as well as possible. If you’re working on a different English accent, just say the words after me practising your own accent. Ok? Let’s go!

To
To have
To have tickets
To have tickets on
To have tickets on yourself

Good job, guys! Remember if you would like to get all the bonus content for this episode, including a bunch of videos showing you things like vocab, other expressions used in this episode, as well as walking you through this pronunciation exercise to help you sound much more like a native speaker, go to theaussieenglishclassroom.com, sign up, and give it a go for one dollar for your first 30 days, ok? Go and check it out!

Anyway, let’s get into the Aussie English Fact today, where I wanted to talk to you about what kind of animal? The blue ringed octopus, ok? So, today’s fact is about one of Australia’s deadliest animals. The unsuspecting, enigmatic and petite blue ring octopus. A group of four species of octopus, the blue ring octopus is a marine animal, it is a cephalopod, which are a group of eight legged mollusks and they include the octopus, as well as squid and cuttlefish and nautilus, nautilus as well.

So, these guys live in intertidal zones and reefs surrounding Australia, but they are also found all throughout the Pacific and Indian oceans as far North as Japan and as far South as Australia. So, the blue-ringed octopus is a tiny and docile little critter, only about 12 to 20 centimetres in length. So, they can generally fit in your hand. They’re active at night, they are nocturnal, and they feed primarily on crabs, hermit crabs, shrimp and any other crustaceans they can get their tiny little tentacles onto.

These guys only live for a very short period of time of about two years and spend much of that time hiding in crevices, whilst displaying effective camouflage patterns with their dermal chromatophores or cells. In other words, they camouflage themselves, they hide themselves with their skin cells that can mimic color and texture of their surroundings. So, when provoked, they quickly change color and they become a bright yellow with each of their 50 to 60 iridescent blue rings flashing as a warning signal: ”don’t eat me! Go away! I’m poisonous!”.

The octopus produces venom containing a number of different chemicals, but of which the most potent and deadly is a chemical called Tetrodotoxin. Interestingly, this toxin is not produced by the octopus itself, but instead, it is produced by bacteria that live in the octopus’s saliva so that when any prey item is bitten by the octopus, the toxin is injected and within moments the defenseless victim is rendered paralyzed and it’s more easily and safely consumed by the octopus. You know, you don’t want those crab pincers chopping off your little tentacles.

If you’re an unlucky human fossicking around the rocky shore in Australia, lifting up rocks, picking up shells or putting your hands in crevices where they don’t belong, you might receive a painless little nip from a frightened octopus trying to defend itself. One of these octopus carries enough venom to kill 26 adult humans, within only a few minutes once the venom has paralysed the diaphragm and you suffocate because you can’t breathe.

The good news is, you’ll survive just fine as long as you’re aware that you’ve been bitten and as long as someone that you’re with can do mouth to mouth, they can do CPR on you and help you breathe until ambulances arrive. Once the ambulance arrives, it will take you to a nearby hospital and put you on a medical ventilator to breathe for you until the venom is metabolised by your body and disappears, usually within about 24 hours. More good news, is that despite its deadly abilities, only three people are known to have died from blue ring octopus bites, two In Australia and a one in Singapore.

Many more have come close to death, but live to tell the tale. So, the moral of the story: make sure that you keep your hands to yourself at the beach. Don’t put them in any dark crevices, in rock pools, where they don’t belong and you’re intruding into the homes of these little octopus and also make sure you empty out any shells that you pick up and want to put in your pocket.

So, with that, guys, I hope you enjoyed today’s episode. I hope you have an amazing 2019 and I will see you in the Aussie English Classroom or in future episodes on the Aussie English Podcast. I’m looking forward to 2019, guys, thanks for your support. See you soon!

AE 515: 13 x Hand Expression + English Test

G’day, guys! What’s going on? I am Pete, the host of Aussie English and today I want to teach you a whole bunch of expressions to do with the hand. Let’s go!

Alright, so, number one, guys: is to live hand-to-mouth. To live hand-to-mouth. This means to live with the bare minimum of food of money of whatever resource it may be and to have none left over afterwards, to have none spare. For example: While studying at university I really lived hand-to-mouth. I’m still living hand-to-mouth even with this new promotion.

Number two: to be caught red-handed right? The idea there being you have blood on your hands because you have been caught in the act of doing something wrong or committing a crime. So, for example, the examiner caught the student cheating red-handed on the exam. I caught my son red-handed taking a cookie out of the cookie jar.

Number three: Second hand. Second hand. If you get something second hand, you’re getting it and it’s not new. It’s not brand new, it’s second hand, someone else has owned that before you so, for example, I’m going to buy a second-hand car. Did you get that jumper second hand from the op shop?

Number four: to give someone a hand, to give someone a hand, this means to assist someone with something they’re doing. Could you give me a hand with this heavy couch? I can’t really lift it on my own. I’m gonna give James a hand with his car on the weekend. We’re gonna repair it.

Number five: to be good with your hands. To be good with your hands. That one tends to be pretty obvious, but it’s usually used to mean that you are skilful with your hands when making something or when repairing something. Dave works as a plumber and has always been good with his hands. If you’re good with your hands, can you help me fix my broken camera?

Number six: at hand. To be at hand. I guess that’s you can reach that thing if it’s at hand, right? So, it is to be close by or to be readily accessible, you can get to it. So, for example, I’ll ring up the police and see if they have an officer at hand to investigate this crime. Do you have your mobile phone at hand?

Number seven: to wash your hands of something. To wash your hands of something. This means that you refuse to have anything more to do with something and it can be someone as well. After our fight, I washed my hands of Peter and I want nothing more to do with him. She washed her hands of cigarettes years ago, hasn’t touched a smoke since.

Number eight: to have your hands tied. To have your hands tied. If you have your hands tied, it is that you are unable to act freely and you have to follow the rules or abide by the law. The cop pulled me over and wanted to let me go, but his hands were tired and he had to give me the fine. The judge says her hands are tied and the law requires a harsh sentence.

Number nine: to know something like the back of your hand. If you know something like the back of your hand or more specifically if you know a place like the back of your hand, it is that you know that thing incredibly well, right? You would imagine you know the back of your hand pretty, well better than anyone else. I’ve lived in Melbourne my whole life and I know the place like the back of my hand. She knows this neighbourhood like the back of her hand.

Number ten: hands down! Hands down. This means easily and decisively, right? So, will usually use this when talking about the most extreme something, the best thing, the worst thing, right? For example: this restaurant is hands down the worst restaurant I’ve ever eaten at. The Matrix is hands-down the best film we’ve ever seen.

Number eleven: to take matters into your own hands. To take matters into your own hands. This means to deal with a problem yourself because the person who was meant to be dealing with it was unable to do so. After the police gave up the investigation, we decided to take matters into our own hands. I might have to take matters into my own hands. If you don’t deal with your misbehaving son.

Number 12: on one hand… on the other hand… So, we use on one hand or on the one hand to introduce a statement that we’re then going to compare to an opposite statement usually or a contrasting statement on the other hand. For example:

on one hand, I want to go to the party tonight, but on the other hand I have to study. On one hand, she wants to go to the gym and get fit, on the other hand, she’s too busy with work.

The very last one, guys, the very last one, number thirteen is: first-hand, and you can also hear this as second-hand and third-hand, fourth-hand etc. So, when we use first hand this usually means directly it’s happened to you directly. So, you’ll hear something first hand, you will learn something first hand, you will see something first hand and that means that you personally did that thing. If it’s second hand, it’s that you did so through someone else. If someone tells you a rumour about someone else, you’ve heard that rumour second hand or you’ve heard that information second hand through someone else and not the direct source, ok? So, examples: when the dog growled at the girl, she learned first-hand not to pull its tail. I heard second hand that Bill’s going to divorce his wife. So, there you go guys. There you go!

Those are 13 expressions that you can use that are related to the body part the hand. They’re very common, they’re very useful! So, learn those and if you have a video that you would like me to do in the future on expressions like this surrounding a theme, make sure to comment below and let me know which you would like me to do. And also, don’t forget to hit that like button and subscribe to see more videos like this. Thanks for joining me, guys. See you soon!

Let’s review with the test. I’ll show you the question followed by the answer if you need more time pause the video. Good job guys, well done! I hope you scored well, and I’ll see you next time.

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Let’s review with a test!

I’ll show you the question followed by the answer. If you need more time, pause the video.

If you’re comparing two contrasting things you use the expression _______.

On the one hand, on the other hand

Hands are tied

If you’re comparing two contrasting things you use the expression on the one hand, on the other hand.

If you only make enough money for the bare necessities in life, you __________.

Live hand to mouth

Give someone a hand

If you only make enough money for the bare necessities in life, you live hand to mouth.

If you decide to deal with a problem because the person who should have dealt with it has failed to, you have _______.

Taken matters into your own hands

Your hands tied

If you decide to deal with a problem because the person who should have dealt with it has failed to, you have taken matters into your own hands.

If something is easily and decisively the best, it’s ______ the best.

Hands down

At hand

If something is easily and decisively the best, it’s hands down the best.

If you know a location incredibly well, you ______.

Know it like the back of your hand

Take matters into your own hands

If you know a location incredibly well, you know it like the back of your hand.

If you catch someone in the middle of committing a crime you _________.

Wash your hands of them

Caught them red-handed

If you catch someone in the middle of committing a crime you caught them red-handed.

If someone or something you need is readily accessible, it’s _______.

At hand

Second-hand

If someone or something you need is readily accessible, it’s at hand.

If you are amazing at repairing or making things, you are ________.

At hand

Good with your hands

If you are amazing at repairing or making things, you are good with your hands.

If you learn information directly from the source, you’ve learnt it _______.

Hands down

First-hand

If you learn information directly from the source, you’ve learnt it first-hand.

If you assist someone with something, you ________.

Give them a hand

Are good with your hands

If you assist someone with something, you give them a hand.

If you have to follow the law even if you don’t want to, your ________.

Hands down

Hands are tied

If you have to follow the law even if you don’t want to, your hands are tied.

If you buy something that isn’t brand new, you’ve bought it _______.

First-hand

Second-hand

If you buy something that isn’t brand new, you’ve bought it second-hand.

If you no longer want anything to do with someone, you’ve ______.

Washed your hands of them

Caught them red handed

If you no longer want anything to do with someone, you’ve washed your hands of them.

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Good job, guys! Well done! I hope you scored well and I’ll see you next time!

AE 440 – Expression: Water Under the Bridge

The great job is done and the 7 years of “Thou shalt not trespass” to the public are relegated into the limbo of forgotten things. The bridge belongs to the man in the street and how he has taken possession of it. Posterity can never experience the thrill that we have known in watching it rise up slowly but surely, until today, it flung wide its gates.

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G ‘day you mob! How’s it going? And welcome to this episode of Aussie English.

So, this is the Aussie English Podcast, the number one podcast for anyone and everyone wanting to improve their English, and specifically Australian English. It’s aimed at helping you improve your pronunciation, your listening comprehension, your spoken English, and also give you a bit more knowledge when it comes to things like Australian slang, culture, food, all that good stuff. So, welcome to the podcast episode, guys.

Today, is an expiration episode and the expression is ‘water under the bridge’, which we’ll get into shortly.

Intro Scene:

So, quickly, that scene at the start there was from a video from a film covering the opening, the inauguration, of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the year 1932. So, there’ll be a link in the transcript if you would like to watch that entire video. It’s about, what, 80, 90 years old now? And it’s pretty cool seeing all these people wearing different clothing like hats and suits that all come from back in that period, not to mention the fact that the bridge is out in open space. You go there today in Sydney, in the CBD, and there’s buildings everywhere. So, it’s a very cool video to watch.

Anyway guys, this is the Aussie English Podcast, which is brought to you by, first and foremost, you the listener, everyone who supports the podcast whether donating via Patreon, where you can sign up to donate as little as a dollar per month, or whether you’re giving a one-off donation via Paypal, or you’re a student in the Aussie English Classroom. And that is an online classroom where you get access to all the bonus content for each of these episodes, and remember, you can sign up and try that for a dollar for your first 30 days. TheAussieEnglishClassroom.com.

Anyway, guys, let’s get into today’s episode. So, the expression is ‘water under the bridge’, hence why I’m talking about the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I thought that linked in nicely. And I also found a joke, a joke, about bridges. Okay. So, here’s the joke.

Aussie Joke:

So, a man goes to see his doctor and he says to the Doctor, “Doctor! Doctor! I think I’m a bridge! I think I’m a bridge!”, and the doctor asks, “What’s come over you? Why do you think you’re a bridge? What’s come over you?”. And the man replies, “Three cars, a van, and a motorbike!”.

Woo! That’s killer. Alright. So, basically, the joke there is with the phrasal verb ‘to come over someone’. Okay? So, this has multiple meanings. The first one there is the literal version of ‘to come over someone’, like to go over someone, to go over the top of someone, i.e. getting run over by a car, for example. So, “What’s come over you?”. “Three cars, a van, and a motorbike.”, as would come over a bridge.

But, ‘to come over something’, as well, can mean to influence someone suddenly to behave a certain way. So, you could imagine that if the dog that you have in your house starts barking like crazy one night, you might say to it, “What’s come over you, mate? Why are you behaving like this? Why are you suddenly doing this? What’s come over you?”. So, that’s the joke.

Expression:

So, today’s expression, guys, is ‘water under the bridge’. ‘Water under the bridge’. For something to be ‘water under the bridge’.

So, this was suggested by Kel in the Aussie English Classroom private Facebook group. This is where we all get together, all the members of the classroom, the Aussie English Classroom, and we chat in there, we do live videos, we work on our spoken English, and each week, I try to suggest expressions as well as get students’ expressions, and everyone votes on them for this episode.

So, it was a great suggestion Kel. ‘Water under the bridge’. So, great suggestion and it’s an English expression that’s used everywhere. This is not specific to Australia.

Definitions:

So, let’s go through and define the words in the expression ‘water under the bridge’. Okay?

So, ‘water’. I’m sure you guys know what ‘water’ is, a colourless transparent odourless liquid, which forms things like seas, lakes, rivers, rain, and it’s the basis for fluids used in living organisms. Right? You are probably 70 to 80 percent water, and you drink water. The sea is full of water. I’m sure you know what ‘water’ is.

The next word here is a preposition or a particle, ‘under’, right? ‘Under’. To be ‘under’ something that is to be beneath something. It’s the opposite of being above something or on top of something. If you are situated below something, if you are beneath something, you are under something. You know, animals live underground, animals like moles or worms or ants. They live underground.

The last word here is a noun, ‘a bridge’, right? ‘A bridge’. ‘A bridge’ is a structure built to carry a road or a path or a railway across river, road, valley, canyon, or any other obstacle. Okay? ‘A bridge’. So, the Sydney Harbour Bridge is a bridge. And we have a huge one in Melbourne called the West Gate Bridge. And these usually cross things like rivers or bays or roads, as we said before.

Alright. So. they’re the words.

Expression Definition & Origin:

What does the expression mean, though? When we put these words together and we use this expression ‘water under the bridge’, what on earth does that mean? Water under the bridge. Yeah, okay. So, there’s water and it’s under the bridge, what does that mean?

So, literally, ‘water under the bridge’ is exactly that. It is water that is beneath a bridge or water that is flowing below a bridge. It is going under a bridge. So, it’s allowed to flow beneath the bridge and it’s not obstructed by anything. It can freely move underneath a bridge.

But figuratively, when we say that something’s ‘water under a bridge’, it means that whatever’s happened in the past can’t be undone, it can’t be changed, you can’t go back in time and change things, so don’t worry about it. Let’s move on with things. It’s not a big deal. The past is in the past. What’s done is done. What’s happened is unchangeable. Let’s forget about it. It’s a water under the bridge, right? So, imagine it like water passing by under the bridge and it’s gone. It’s done. It’s finished. There’s nothing you can do about it so it’s not a big deal.

And you also hear this used like expressions, ‘what’s done is done’ or ‘the past is in the past’ or simply ‘the past’s the past’.

So, where did this expression originate from? The earliest example I could find was from 1934. So, a song was entitled ‘Water under the bridge’ and it was written by Paul Francis Webster, Lou Pollock, and it was performed by Fred Waring, and this was all the way back in the 1930s, and the first line of the chorus begins as, “We kissed and love flowed through my heart like water under the bridge.”. So, it’s probably not being used exactly as we use it today, but there it is ‘water under the bridge’.

Most recently too, as a quick mention, artists like Adele and Olivia Newton-John actually have songs called ‘Water under the bridge’. So, check those out on YouTube.

Examples:

So, as usual, let’s go through three examples of how I would use this expression. If something’s water under the bridge, what does that mean? How would I use this in day to day life?

1.

Okay, so example number one. Imagine that I’m walking through the city and I stumble into an old friend from primary school. So, I bump into an old friend from school. It was by chance. I didn’t expect to see them. So, I haven’t seen them in like 12 years and we have a bit of a chat after we’ve recognised each other, and maybe one of us realises that the other one was a bit of a brat, a bit of a rascal, in school and maybe bullied me or I bullied them, maybe we teased each other, we paid each other out a lot as kids. If one of us apologises for that and says, “You know what, I was a real naughty kid, I was a bit of a brat, I was a rascal when I was in primary school and I was nasty. Sorry about that. I really apologise for being horrible.”. The other person might say, “Man, that was 12 years ago. Nothing to apologise about. No worries. It was so long ago, it’s a water under the bridge.”. So, it’s in the past it’s unchangeable. It’s so long ago, forget about it. It’s water under the bridge.

2.

Example number two. So, in this example imagine, you know, countries in Europe, in the Americas, in Asia, were all fighting each other in World War II, right? All of these countries were at each other’s throats. They were trying to kill each other. They were fighting for power. People hated each other. There was racism, genocide, rape, murder, torture, the deaths of millions of people. You guys will know about what happened in the 20th century there, in World War II. But today, many of these countries consider themselves allies. They consider themselves friends. They have good relations. They… their relations have improved since that time. So, all of that stuff that happened was in the past. What’s done is done, and today, it’s water under the bridge, right? So, even though England and Germany were on opposite sides in World War II, they’re now good allies in Europe. So, what’s done is done. What’s in the past is in the past. It’s all water under the bridge.

3.

Example Number Three. Okay, so here’s a personal anecdote from me. When I was growing up, my sister and I really didn’t get along. We used to fight each other all the time. We’d be yelling at each other, teasing each other. Maybe my sister would run to my mum and dad and, you know, complain about me, she’d dob on me, or tell on me for something. Maybe I’d pull her hair or steal her toys. And so, we grew up really disliking each other. However today, we get along like a house on fire. We are pretty close, we hang out, we chat, we see each other quite a bit. So, everything that has happened in the past is in the past. What’s done is done. It’s unchangeable, but it’s all water under the bridge. We have a really good relationship now. We’re on good terms. So, if I pulled her aside and apologised to her, she would probably say to me, “Pete, don’t worry about it. It’s so long ago, it’s water under the bridge.”.

Alright guys, so by now, I hope you understand the expression ‘water under the bridge’. Remember, we used this to talk about anything that has happened in the past, a long time ago, and it’s unchangeable. You can’t undo it and you shouldn’t worry about it. So, what’s done is done and what’s in the past is in the past. It’s water under the bridge.

So, let’s do a listen and repeat exercise as usual, guys. This is your chance to practice your pronunciation, to try and focus on intonation and rhythm and connected speech, and if you really want to try and nail your Australian accent, it’s your chance to copy me as I speak. Otherwise, just say these words after me. Okay? So, listen then repeat after me. Let’s go.

Listen & Repeat:

It’s

It’s water

It’s water under

It’s water under the

It’s water under the bridge x 5

Good job. So, now let’s just do a little bit more and I want you to imagine a situation where you want to say to someone, if they’ve apologised to you, that, “It’s not a problem, it’s water under the bridge”. But let’s use some common Australian English phrases. Okay? So, listen and repeat after me, guys. And this is how you would say, “Not to worry. It’s not a problem. It’s water under the bridge.”. So, listen and repeat.

All good. It’s water under the bridge.

Don’t worry. It’s water under the bridge.

No stress. It’s water under the bridge.

No dramas. It’s water under the bridge.

She’ll be right. It’s water under the bridge.

Great job, and I will mention here, if you want to make it even more informal and very, very friendly, you can add ‘mate’ at either end of either of those sentences. So, you could say “She’ll be right, mate. It’s water under the bridge.”, or you could say “She’ll be right. It’s water under the bridge, mate.”.

So, we use ‘mate’ in Australia a lot to really sort of emphasise the friendliness of discussions. Now, we might avoid using this on women, and some women may not decide to use this when they’re talking, in fact, most women probably won’t say ‘mate’, but if you’re a guy listening to this and you’re talking to other guys, especially Australians, don’t be afraid to say ‘mate’. It’ll really come across like you’re being incredibly friendly. Okay? So, there you go.

Alright, guys, remember, if you want to get access to all the bonus content that will break this exercise down, this pronunciation exercise and go through things like connected speech and rhythm, intonation, then sign up to the Aussie English Classroom. Each week at the moment, I am releasing videos that take you through step by step all the aspects of connected speech and pronunciation and will better equip you to sound like an Australian English speaker, and you can sign up there and try it for one dollar for 30 days at TheAussieEnglishClassroom.com.

Aussie Fact:

So, let’s get into the Aussie English fact for today, guys, and then we will finish up.

So, the Aussie fact. Have you guessed what it’s about? It’s about the Sydney Harbour Bridge. So, I want to talk about that and I also want to talk about an interesting incident that occurred at the opening of the bridge in 1932. Alright so, let’s get into it.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is probably in the top three icons or iconic symbols synonymous with Australia. So, you would also know, obviously, the Sydney Opera House and Uluru. Those three things tend to be synonymous symbols with Australia. When you see them, you know you’re thinking about Australia at the same time. So, anyone who knows about Australia will definitely recognise the bridge. And let’s go through some facts about the bridge.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is steel, it’s made of steel, and it is a steel through arch bridge. So, it’s a… it’s made of steel, it’s in the shape of an arch, and you drive through the middle of it. It carries rail, vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney CBD, and the Central Business District, and the North Shore. So, it crosses the bay there.

The bridge is nicknamed the ‘Coathanger’, because of its arch-based design. And ‘a coathanger’ is something that you would hang a coat or any other item of clothing on in a wardrobe.

So, it’s the sixth longest-spanning arch bridge in the world and the tallest steel arch bridge measuring about 134 metres from the very top all the way down to the water level.

Its construction began nearly 100 years ago on the 28th of July in 1923. So, I guess 95 years ago. And it ended nine years later on the 19th of January in 1932. So, talk about a bridge that took a long time to build. Hey guys? And the gates were open to the general public about two months after its construction was complete.

So, the bridge was formally opened on Saturday on the 19th of March in 1932. And following the speeches being given at that event, Jack Lang, who was the Premier of New South Wales at the time, he was about to cut the ribbon and declare the bridge open when a man in military uniform suddenly rode up on a horse brandishing a sword, a sabre, and he slashed the ribbon in two and declared that the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in the name of the people of New South Wales before the official ceremony could begin.

So, this man was promptly swarmed by security and he was pulled from his horse, arrested, and escorted from the scene. The ribbon was hurriedly retired and Lang performed the official opening ceremony and the bridge was inaugurated, and the inauguration was followed by a 21-gun salute, as in, 21 guns were fired into the air as a celebration, and the RAAF or ‘RAAF’ the Royal Australian Air Force did a flypast, where all of these planes flew past above the bridge.

So, the intruder on horseback was later identified as Francis De Groot who was ultimately convicted of offensive behaviour and he was fined five pounds after a psychiatric test proved he was sane, but this verdict was reversed on appeal. And strangely enough, de Groot actually successfully sued the Commissioner of Police for wrongful arrest and was awarded an undisclosed out of court settlement. So, he might have even got more money than was the fine he was originally meant to pay, the five pounds, right?

So, De Groot was actually a member of a right-wing paramilitary group called the New Guard who were opposed to Lang’s leftist policies and resentful of the fact that a member of the Royal Family hadn’t been asked to open the bridge. So, these guys were obviously royalists, very passionate about the Royal Family, and wanted them to be at the forefront of this inauguration.

So, De Groot was not a member of the regular army, but he’d worn this uniform and it allowed him to blend in with the rest of the cavalry. So, that’s how he snuck in to this event.

After the official ceremonies, the public was allowed to walk across the bridge and there were somewhere between 300,000 and 1,000,000 people, 1,000,000 people, who took part in the opening festivities. So, that’s ridiculous, that’s crazy, because Sydney’s population at the time was only 1,250,000. So, if we assume that it was 1,000,000 people, that’s almost like 80 percent of the people in Sydney crossing it. And even if it was only 300,000, that’s still something like 20 percent. So, it’s a crazy amount of people that came to check out the bridge. I guess today, we’d probably just, you know, use our iPhones.

Anyway, today you can go and see this bridge. It can be viewed from many parts of Sydney’s CBD. You can get a train across, you can drive across it, you can cycle or walk across it, and you can even climb to the very top of it if you desire.

Anyway, guys, that is it for today. A massive thank you for listening and, I guess, a small mention, just remember, guys, that I am in the process of doing up the website, and when it comes in in the future I will be charging a small fee for the transcripts and the MP3 downloads. And so, the whole point of bringing this in, and the reason I want to remind you, is because I’m hiring other people to work for me to try and help me bring better content for you guys.

So, I thank you so much for all the people who replied to me via email when I sent that out this week. I really, really appreciated the replies that I got, and you guys overwhelmingly told me it was a good idea and that I should definitely start charging so that I can afford to improve the content and improve my English.

So, a massive thank you to you guys, and yeah, thank you for encouraging me, because sometimes it’s difficult to know whether you are making the right decision and that’s why I really enjoy putting it to you guys and asking you guys for your feedback. So, thank you.

Expression: To Tinker With Something

G’day guys. How’re you going? Welcome to this expression episode. Today I’m going to do the expression for you TO TINKER AWAY or just TO TINKER. And I mentioned this phrase in a recent episode that I uploaded for you guys, and Estefania from Spain asked me if I could do an episode on TO TINKER AWAY or just TO TINKER WITH, TO TINKER.

So, here we are. If you guys have any expressions, any sayings, any idioms, any grammatical issues, pronunciation issues, any kind of English issue that you would like me to do an episode on in the future make sure you send me a message or comment below, because I’m going to try and turn this around and focus in on you guys, and try and do as much as I can that you guys ask for specifically. So, I’m going to put you guys first from now on.

Anyway, before we get started I’ve got some good news. I bought some gadgets recently. Some gadgets, and GADGETS are like little devices, little computer technology, machinery, gadgets, gadgets. I’ve got here a lapel mic that I can plug into my phone and put here to talk (into). And I also have a directional microphone that I bought that I just plug in to the side of my phone. And so, I thought I would start this episode obviously just using my phone without any microphone plugged in. It’s just using the normal phone microphone. And, I thought I’ll plug this in while we are recording so that you can see the difference. So, let me just see here. There, we’re plugged in. And hopefully, I’ll have to check after I’ve recorded this, hopefully the sound is better.

Anyway, without any further ado, let’s dive right into the episode guys. So, TO TINKER AWAY, TO TINKER AWAY, or just TO TINKER. TO TINKER WITH SOMETHING, TO TINKER AWAY AT SOMETHING, you can say TO TINKER AWAY AT an activity, so something you’re doing. If you’re TINKERING AWAY you could be repairing something, playing with something. I’ll define it in a sec, but yeah, TO TINKER AWAY WITH an activity or AT an activity, or TO TINKER WITH something.

So, the definition of TO TINKER is to busy oneself, to occupy oneself, to be busy with something an to be making subtle changes, to be making adjustments, so to adjust something, to attempt to repair something. But ultimately, you’re doing this without any real skill in that field, in that area. So, you don’t know how to repair these things but you’re trying to anyway, you’re TINKERING with the device, with whatever it is that you’re trying to repair. And you could also say that it’s kind of in a clumsy unskillful way with no real results.

And so, you can also use TINKER in the form of a noun. So, not only can you use it as a verb, TO TINKER WITH something or TO TINKER AWAY at something but you can also have A TINKER WITH something. And that means to fiddle with something, to try and adjust it. A TINKER is like an adjustment, a fiddle, a play, you’re… It’s that noun. It’s that idea of the action that you’re doing. So, if I go and HAVE A TINKER WITH my car, I’m going out to my car and I’m having a fiddle, I’m having a play, I’m adjusting things, I’m trying to repair it with no real result. Whereas, if I use it as a verb I can say that I am going TO TINKER WITH the car, or I’m going to the car and I’m TINKERING AWAY with trying to repair the car.

So, that’s TO TINKER, the verb and the noun. A bit of background, where did TO TINKER come from? TO TINKER apparently is… or A TINKERER back in the old days, I would never use this phrase anymore, but A TINKERER was someone who mended kettles and pots and pans. So, things that you cooked with. And this was back in the mid 1300s onwards. So, 1300s, 1400s, 1500s. Back when it was obviously incredibly important to be able to repair those kinds of objects that everyone used in their houses to cook with. And so, it was also a surname, I think TINKERE, I’m probably mispronouncing that, but it dates back to Middle English in the 1200s and onwards. And so, surnames in English quite often reveal to some extent what that original family did as a job. And so, if their surname was TINKER or TINKERE these are probably the people who first started to make themselves known for mending kettles, pots and pans, and that’s where the verb came from (TO) TINKER and the noun came from A TINKER.

So, let’s just get straight into some examples of how I would use this phrase, or how I would use this word, this noun. So, imagine that you’re grandfather is, like, really really intensely interested in clocks, old antique clocks. So, he collects, maybe they’re not always in mint condition, maybe they’re not always perfect, they don’t work very well, and he has no real training in how to repair these things, but all the same, he likes to play around with the clocks and the mechanisms in the clocks. He likes to fiddle with them. You could say, “He likes TO TINKER WITH his clocks. He likes TINKERING WITH his clocks. He likes to go and have A TINKER with his clocks on weekends.” You know, it’s his hobby, just to play with the clocks, to adjust them. Maybe some of them are broken and he tries to repair them. He likes TO TINKER WITH clocks.

Another example could be that you are a mechanic and you love building cars. So, you may not necessarily be a mechanic in a sense that it is your career, but say you’re just… It’s your hobby. You’ve always loved cars, you love building cars from scratch, you love making the engines and then finally getting the car on the road and going for a drive. It’s your passion. You’ve got a garage at home with all your tools on the walls, you know, you’ve got oil pans on the ground to catch the oil if it starts leaking from the cars. Any time that you go into the garage to build your car, to try and repair the cars, to fiddle with the engine, to make adjustments, any time you go in there and have a play, have a fiddle, you could say that you’re having A TINKER. So, there’s the noun, to have A TINKER. You’re TINKERING WITH the car, you’re having A TINKER WITH the car, the engine, parts of the car, whatever it is that you’re fiddling with. You could say you’re having A TINKER WITH it. Or you could use it as a verb and you could say “I am TINKERING WITH the car. I am TINKERING WITH the engine. I’m TINKERING WITH the parts. I’m having a play. I’m having a fiddle.”

The third example could be that say, you’re at home, you’re trying to cook one day and you got the dishes in the dishwasher running. They’re cleaning, the water’s going inside the dishwasher and all of a sudden you hear some clunking and then the dishwasher stops working. And your dad runs out and he’s like, “Ah! I got this. I’ll fix this. It’s fine, it’s fine!” He gets in behind the dishwasher, you know, (he) pulls it out. (He) tries to get in there and have a fiddle to see if he can fix the dishwasher and get it to keep working again obviously. Maybe he wants to do this because he wants to save money and not have to pay for a repairman to come out, because it’s expensive to pay a repairman to come out to fix the dishwasher. Maybe he’s afraid he’s going to be told, “You’re going to have to buy a new dishwasher. This one’s kaput, it’s broken.” And so, he gets in behind the dishwasher and he has A TINKER or he’s TINKERING AWAY behind the dishwasher. He’s trying to repair things, he’s trying to find the problem, he’s having a fiddle with the dishwasher, he’s playing around, he’s adjusting things, he’s hoping that he finds the fault or the problem but ultimately he has no skill when it comes to repairing dishwashers, and it’s a clumsy kind of effort to try and fix it with no real result. And so, that’s when you can say, “He’s TINKERING AWAY” as he’s doing it, “He’s TINKERING AWAY” or “He’s having A TINKER behind the dishwasher trying to fix it.” SO, that’s example number three, TO TINKER WITH the dishwasher or to have A TINKER WITH the dishwasher.

So, the fourth example that I’ve got here is, imagine that your government is trying to set up a really nice healthcare system. And so, it implements some kind of strategy initially to try and improve the health care system of the country, but it’s unsatisfied with the initial setup and it keeps making changes to how the healthcare system that they have implemented is setup. You know, how much things cost, how much funding it’s getting, how many people are hired and working in this area, whatever it is. If they keep making changes, in terms of this it’s not a machine, it’s not a device or a gadget, it’s a system, some kind of setup that is not necessarily a physical thing. If they keep making those adjustments, they keep playing around with how it’s setup, they keep fiddling with it, you could say, “They’re TINKERING WITH it.” So, they’re playing with it, they’re trying to fix it, they don’t really know what they’re doing ultimately, they’re just trying to make changes and then hope that things work better or that they repair, that they get better, that they work more efficiently. So, then you could say that the government is TINKERING WITH their healthcare system strategy. They’re having A TINKER with it, they’re playing with it, they’re not really sure what they’re doing, it’s a little unskillful, it’s a little clumsy. And so, they’re having A TINKER WITH it.

Alright. Those are all the examples. By now I’m sure you’re getting the idea. You probably understand how to use the verbs TO TINKER, TO TINKER WITH something, and TO TINKER AWAY AT something. I haven’t looked up the specific reason that English speakers use AWAY. And so, at the moment when I try and explain this it’s just off the top of my head, I’m just thinking of it as I make this video. But I think whenever you do something and then have a AWAY after the verb, so if you’re WORKING AWAY, if you’re RUNNING AWAY, not in the sense of escaping but you’re running a lot, it’s that idea of that you’re in the process of doing it. So, if you’re TINKERING AWAY WITH something it means that when someone says you’re TINKERING AWAY WITH it, you’re in the process of doing it right then and there. So, when someone’s saying that you’re literally doing it, you’re in the process of TINKERING AWAY. So, it means you’re TINKERING AWAY. So, what else is another example? I’m WORKING AWAY AT my podcast at the moment. I’m WORKING AWAY, I’m TALKING AWAY, ‘cause I’m currently talking. If I’m TINKERING AWAY, if I was fiddling with the camera and trying to do stuff right now in the video you could say I was TINKERING AWAY WITH the camera, WITH the microphone. So, that’s that sort of idea of you’re literally doing it as we speak, you’re in the process of doing it. That is when you’ll add AWAY after verbs like TO TINKER AWAY, TO WORK AWAY, TO TALK AWAY, TO PLAY AWAY, TO RUN AWAY. In that sense, it means to be doing it right then and there.

Alright. So, you’ve got the idea of what TO TINKER AWAY WITH something or TO TINKER AWAY AT something is and TO TINKER WITH something. And so, as usual we can dive straight into the substitution exercise, or the exercise that I love to give you guys at the end of these episodes. This is the first time I’ve done this one on video. So, hopefully it’s not too boring and the good aspect, I guess, is that if you’re watching this on YouTube and you don’t like these exercises or you want to find specific sentences in them, you can skip forward or skip over it completely.

So, let’s just get started guys. And in this substitution exercise I want you guys to switch the verb TO FIDDLE (or the noun A FIDDLE) that I’m going to have in different sentences with the verb TO TINKER or the noun TO A TINKER. So, I’m going to have FIDDLE in the sentence, the first one that I say, and then TINKER in the second one, and I want you to switch the word FIDDLE with the appropriate version or conjugation of TINKER. So, let’s get started.

Substitution exercise: To fiddle/A fiddle – To tinker/A tinker

Stop fiddling with the engine and take it to get repaired.

Stop ________ with the engine and take it to get repaired.

He keeps fiddling with his broken watch.

He keeps ________ with his broken watch.

Granddad loves fiddling with his antique clocks.

Granddad loves ________ with his antique clocks.

I’m going to go have a fiddle with my car.

I’m going to go have ________ with my car.

He’s having a fiddle with his clocks.

He’s having ________ with his clocks.

You’re having a fiddle with your computer.

You’re having ________ with your computer.

She’s fiddling away with her broken earring.

She’s ________ with her broken earring.

We’re fiddling away with our new laptop.

We’re ________ with our new laptop.

They want to fiddle away with their broken radio.

They want ________ with their broken radio.

He’s going to fiddle with it for a while.

He’s going ________ with it for a while.

Here are the answers:

Stop tinkering with the engine and take it to get repaired.

He keeps tinkering with his broken watch.

Granddad loves tinkering with his antique clocks.

I’m going to go have a tinker with my car.

He’s having a tinker with his clocks.

You’re having a tinker with your computer.

She’s tinkering away with her broken earring.

We’re tinkering away with our new laptop.

They want to tinker away with their broken radio.

He’s going to tinker with it for a while.

Alright, guys. I guess that’s all there is to it for this episode. This has been a pretty long one. I hope you like the video aspect of it, for you guys who are more visual based and love seeing people talk, seeing people do gestures, seeing my reactions. I hope also for those who like the podcast episodes that it’s also good. Let me know what you think of the new mic. Is the audio better? Is it improved? Do you like it? Also, if you guys have expressions, verbs, pronunciation issues, any aspects of English that you guys would like me to do an episode on for you, in order to help you improve your English, definitely let me know in a comment or a message. I’ll design it like I do these episodes. I’ll go through the definition of the words or the grammatical themes, and then I’ll go through how I would use them in certain contexts, and then I’ll also go through some substitution exercises. And that’s the whole point. The whole point of me being here is to help you guys with the problems that you have. So, don’t be afraid to come and send me a message, comment on Facebook, whatever it is, let me know what you’re having an issue with at the moment and how I can help you improve your English. Until next time guys, I’m wishing you all the best. See you later!

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Check out all the other recent Expression episode on Aussie English below!